Sunday Mailbag: Hello Neuman?

Q: With you participating in so many comic book conventions, I just had to know—do you come across many people cosplaying as Alfred E. Neuman?

A: I actually don’t do all that many comic cons. I only do four every year: San Diego Comic-Con and New York Comic Con, because those are the big ones, and two in Chicago in C2E2 and Wizard World Chicago (formerly Chicago Comic Con) because they are good sized shows but also within a driveable distance of my home. I’m currently in charge of the National Cartoonists Society’s big comic-con booth presence so when they started doing Wondercon with that booth last year, I now need to be there to get it set up and so I set up my own table as well… so I guess that’s five now. The only other ones I do are ones where I am invited to be a special guest, like this weekend here in Indianapolis.

Anyway, on to your question. Yes, I have seen some Alfred E Neuman cosplays now and then:

This is Vicente, a big MAD fan, at San Diego Comic Con a few years ago. I don’t know the name of the lady looking annoyed behind us, but if she doesn’t want to be in the background of cosplay pictures she should find a more appropriate place to sit and read than the hallway of a convention center during comic con.

Thanks to Arthur Armstrong for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!